This is chapter three, got to love the fast updates, review
Don't own Final fantasy VIII but I do own Kisala and Shelk.
Part one
Chapter three:
Zack walked into the training room his five students were in. The moment they noticed him they stood up and saluted, he grinned and said
"Introduce your-self" he commanded them
"Keith Adamson sir" the first one said
"Abel Candor sir" he also saluted
"Chad Gangland sir" he stood strait and gave a salute
Cloud Strife sir" he too saluted
"Alexander Rydal" he gave a halfhearted salute
Zack nodded, but frowned at the last one; he turned to them and pulled his buster blade from his back. His mentor had given this to him, back when he was a recruit and told him and his recruit mates something that had stuck when him for years.
"I've got some advice for you…no an order" he put his forehead to his sword then put it back at his side "embrace your dreams and whatever happens protect your SOLDIER honor, got it"
"Sir" they all said, but his eyes locked with Cloud and he could practically see the message seeping into the boy
"Good" he grabbed the practice sword from the pile "let's get started."
Zack sighed as he looked at the five people, the students, lined up in front of him. A few of them were panting as he had just spent time sparing with them, to get to know their strengths and weakness. The last person he had yet to spar with was Cloud.
He twirled the practice sword in his hands; so far he had been pretty disappointed. Cloud took up the practice sword and adjusted his own hands. Zacks eye widened, it was much like how he had been holding his own sword. Had this kid have prior practice or had he been observing them this whole time.
"Alright spiky, let's see what you've got" Zack said swinging at the boy. He watched the boy's center of balance, it was a little low, but it seemed he could work on it; the boy would be good at a large sword like him and Angeal.
The two swung at one another, Cloud seemed to be able to absorb, retain and adjust with each hit. He accounted for his speed; his weight was a little off, throwing his whole weight into something or not enough.
The two clashed and pushed at one another. Zack was older and stronger so he pushed Cloud away from him, bringing the sword around, Cloud rolled away. Zack looked at him, he was panting like the others but there was a determination in his eyes.
Zack lowered his sword and said
"Enough" the boy took a deep breath of air
"Alright, that was excellent Cloud, you've got some real talent there, work on you sense of balance and weight and we'll make a SOLDIER out of you yet"
Cloud nodded and Zack turned to the others. Telling them their strengths and what they had done wrong and how to improve it. He smiled as some of them nodded and commented on their own mistakes.
He glanced back at Cloud, this one…
"Cloud stay back" Zack said as his team filled out of the room to go back to the barracks.
"Sir?" Cloud said as the others left. He stood in front of Zack. Zack chuckled under his breath and said
"So… where are you from" he asked even though he knew the answer already
"Nibelheim Sir" he said
Zack started to laugh and Cloud, feeling slightly offended asked
"How about you?"
"Me, Gongaga" he said with a large grin
Cloud gave a brief chuckled at the name before he realized he had laughed at his superior and put a hand over his mouth and turned away.
"Hey what's so funny about that?" he asked. "You know Gongaga?"
"No" Cloud said shrugging "it's such a backwater name"
"Ditto Nibelheim" Zack said putting his hands on his hips nodding.
"Like you've been there" Cloud said defending his town
"I haven't" he shook his head "but there's a reactor there, right?"
Cloud nodded and Zack let his hands swing at his side in a relaxed motion.
"A Mako reactor outside of Midgar usually means…" he trailed off as a grin broke onto Clouds face
"Nothing else out there" the two said at the same time, the two looked at one another and laughed.
Zack laughed and said
"Both Backwater exports, oh yeah, that might come in handy on a missions don't you think"
The two laughed and Zack walked with cloud back to the barracks, his arm slung over his shoulder.
Shelk walked down the hall to the exit. She couldn't wait to get to her apartment and rest. Today had been a hectic day, and sense she got sick, she hadn't been feeling up to par the rest of the day.
As she walked the familiar path to her apartment she heard someone coming up the walk near her. Swinging her hand to where her walking stick was she waited.
By the sound of the steps it was a woman in high heels.
Scarlet walked down the walk at a quick paced, she really need to get back to the building quickly, she was late for a meeting. The red obsessed blonde woman was in such a hurry she didn't see Shelk in the walk way until she bowled right into her.
Shelk was prepared to step out of the woman's way but didn't have time to do so when she felt her shoulder kiss the pavement.
"Watch where you going" a voice she knew well yelled at her.
Shelk almost groaned at the voice, Scarlet.
"You were the one who ran into me" Shelk said grabbing her messenger bag and standing
Scarlet brushed imaginary dirt of her red dress and stared at the woman who she ran into. The woman wore some thick sunglasses, red hair in a braid and some plan clothing.
"Who are you; I demand to know your name and position"
"Director of communications, Shelk Anthis" the woman gave a smug smirk
Scarlet frowned, she couldn't touch this one, and the woman knew it, so she simply huffed and stalked passed Shelk.
Shelk listened until she could no longer hear the angry woman's steps. She shook her head and let out an aggravated sigh. Oh how she would love to give that woman a good beating on the head.
She continued on her way to her apartment when she heard familiar steps coming up to her quickly. She smiled at the sound and said
"Hello Kisala"
Kisala frowned at being caught but shrugged; she had trained the girl herself so it wasn't a surprise
"Hey Shelk, I heard it was new recruit day, you ok"
Shelk nodded
"I met two of the Elite today" Kisala smiled at that "and I got sick again"
Kisala hooked their arms together to lead her friend away.
"What happened?" she cursed for not being there, not knowing if her friend coughed up blood, or Mako.
"It happened right after the ceremony. I felt the pain and got half way to the bathrooms, Elite Genesis found me and saw what happened, and I coughed up Mako."
Kisala felt a little relief, coughing up Mako may have been bad, but coughing up Blood was worse.
"So does Genesis know of you know?" she asked tapping her friends glasses
Shelk shook her head and said
"No, I got away but I'm sure he suspicious and might tell the other two Elite and they will probably keep track of me for a while, he say the Mako I coughed up."
Kisala shook her head as they got into the elevator at their flat and said
"I keep telling you we should go to a doctor, one outside Midgar, so they don't have to know and you can see what's really wrong"
Shelk shook her head and stepped up to their door in the small entry way just outside the elevator.
"It's pointless, I know what's wrong with me and there is really nothing anyone can do, don't you remember when I met you, your friend looked at me"
Kisala nodded sadly and said
"Sorry I'm just worried about you, that's all"
Shelk smiled fully opening the door and the two stepped in.
"I know and I really appreciate you for all that you've done" she hugged her friend and frowned
Pulling away and closing the door she turned to the direction her friend was in and said
"You smell different"
Kisala frowned and said
"I did go down to the slums, it might be the lingering smell, and the air isn't really filtered down their well"
Shelk shook her head, that wasn't it
"No it's a small smell, but pleasant"
Kisala frowned and scratched her head before her eyes widened and she pulled the flower out of her braids.
"Is this it" she lifted the blue flowers to her friend's nose that took a whiff and smiled
"Yeah, that's it what is it?"
"It's a flower"
Shelk's eyes widened, her friend had found a flower in Midgar, in the slums.
"A flower" she whispered brushing the petals with her fingers, she remember flowers, so long ago
"Yeah, there's this girl I'm guarding from the Turks who is able to grow a whole garden in that church I said I would be visiting."
The two girls moved to the couch and Kisala found a vase of water to but the flower in.
"Her name is Aerith and the Turks are following her around. When I asked her why she said her mother and her were captured by Hojo, they escaped and her mother died, so she was adopted by another woman who also has grass and a large garden"
Shelk smiled at her friend's enthusiasm, this would be good for her. Kisala really needed something to do during the day.
"That's not all" Kisala's tone had taken a softer note to it, one Shelk hadn't heard in a long time. "I asked who her father was…Aerith is the daughter of Professor Gast"
"Oh Kisala" she said remembering how much the woman had cared about the scientist who had helped her, "does she look like him"
"Only a little, I think…she may be a Cetra"
Shelk blinked at her friend
"A Cetra, are you sure?"
"Yeah, it would explain why Hojo wants her and that woman that always with Gast"
Shelk nodded at the woman's reasoning
"That's good, you go hang out with her" she stood and headed to the kitchen, taking off her trench coat, and pulled out her walking stick. "You going to tell her, you know about yourself?" she asked
"Maybe one day, but…" she trailed off and Shelk nodded in understanding. Both girls were very secretive.
"On your own time then, now what do you want for dinner" Shelk asked and the woman grinned.
After dinner was done Shelk went and pulled one of her books off the shelf while Kisala went through their mail, ones for Shelk she read out loud.
"You know, one of these days they will notice you've never gotten a physical" Kisala said flipping through the mail, Shelk didn't comment.
Kisala shrugged and stopped when she noticed a letter for her. Putting the others down she opened it and read the contents. She sighed and said
"I've got to go and report to the board room with the president and our lovely SOLDIER director Lizard"
"Lazard" Shelk corrected her friend, who just waved her off.
"Tomato, tomato" she said
Shelk laughed and said
"Just don't call him Lizard to his face ok" only to once again be waved off.
Shelk sighed and put her book down; she undid the braid and relaxed as the waved hair spread out along her shoulders. She stood and said
"Well I'm off to bed, night Kisala"
"Night" the woman said undoing her own braids and pulling out each beads.
The two women retired for the night.
Zack lay on his bed staring up at the ceiling. The footsteps from above had stopped so the two who lived up there were either asleep or left. He sighed; he hated how thin the walls were. The ceiling was strong enough to support the beams and other parts of the house but wasn't exactly sounded proof.
He smiled and rolled over, he had a plan, for his student spiky, he really had a plan for that kid…he just knew that something great would come of him.
Deep in one of the many labs that belonged to ShinRa; a mad scientist was overseeing one of his projects. He was having all of his journals and records moved to the Manor in the village of Nibelheim. As the library was being stacked he turned to a man standing in the shadows, the man was tall but most of his features were hidden. He wore a black body suite with black boots and a long sword at his side.
He frowned; the man had a lot of growing to do before Hojo's plan could be put into action.
A foot SOLDIER assigned to him entered the room and bowed formally.
"Well" he demanded
"Sorry Sir, reports say nothing showed up, we can't find Gast's project Cosmo."
The scientist growled and banged his hands on the desk. This was unacceptable, how dare Gast hide his greatest science experiment from him; from him.
He looked at the man in the shadows and nodded. The man in the shadows pulled out a long katana and slashed the unsuspected SOLDIER straight through.
Blood and parts coated the floor and Hojo sighed, another mess to clean up. Hojo walked out of the library, calling for someone to clean the mess in the library. The man in the shadows followed him out. Long silver hair pulled into a pony tail.
Hojo stared at him, and then sighed; yes this thing…had a lot of growing to do before he was ready. Hojo left the ShinRa Manor, his faceless clone following.
please reive, thanks you, they are my bread and butter and water, I need them to survive.