It was all a blur in those next hours to Tifa. Time seemed to spur past her as she stared out the window of the Shinra helicopter, Rude next to her as he drove the large flying aircraft. She clutched her seat tightly, looking at the ground below them. She could see the faint remains of Reno's own helicopter, and she briefly wondered what she had gotten herself into.
She glanced at Rude, who appeared to be a statue. But, it wasn't that surprising, maybe he wasn't used to driving a helicopter since Reno always volunteered too. Or else this was his way of mourning, ignoring the depths of life. It was possible this was his method of facing the grief head on. Or maybe she was putting far too much thought into this.
"Here." he murmured finally, landing the copter about three miles away from the crash site. Quietly he opened the door of the copter, ready to usher her out. "If you see any sign of him, call Shinra immediately, understood?"
Tifa merely nodded, starting to feel herself shake in anticipation. She didn't understand if this was a mission or a favor, but either way, she wanted to help Reno. Something snapped in her heart when she heard, and she was determined to do anything to make sure that there is a possibility he could still be living.
Rude shut the door, the propeller moving fast again as he was lifted off of the ground. Tifa's eyes followed the copter as it's form disappeared. For a few seconds she stood there, watching the water, unsure of what to do. Shinra wasn't very clear, only ordering her to find clues of Reno's existence. They haven't even searched his helicopter to see if his corpse was present. She shivered at the thought. Now she understood why they wanted Cloud, he had seen a dead body a few times.
Slowly she forced her feet to move towards the rubble of metal off of the cliff. Not much remained, only the main hub of the vehicle. The propeller, tail, and part of one door was completely gone, the rest in pieces and appearing to be chewed on. How could a human survive something like that?
Tifa looked around her. Trees shaded the island from an immense amount of sunlight, being used as Nature's canopy. Water lapped calmly at the cliff, occasionally hitting her with a cool spray. Wildflowers grew in bunches near the greenery. Truly it seemed to be a beautiful place, not somewhere to hide a body.
Quickly she easily jumped down towards the wreck of the helicopter, and slowly walked towards it. Gravel shifted under her feet, and she got nervous that maybe it was too unsteady for her weight. But she still carefully inched over to the scene.
Her hands went to the ripped up metal, and she heaved as she pried it away from the main hub. Pieces of loose metal fell away from it, broken off at the impact. She pulled harder so she would have enough room to slip in. Eventually the door gave way, falling away and Tifa had to jump away for she would be trapped underneath if she had not moved it.
Tifa took a deep breath, wary to see what would be inside. She carefully looked inside, and gasped.
Very sorry about the shortness of the chapter. Wanted to leave a cliffhanger yet show that I haven't forgotten about this story.