Chapter 9

Two days later Rufus placed a hand on his face exasperated. He, Lazard, Tseng, and Reno and Rude stood in front of the four Soldiers at Shin-ra Headquarters.

"You lost him?" Rufus asked again.

"We left Zack and Genesis at the condo while we went to the store. Apparently they got into a fight and River must have went outside to escape the noise. He doesn't seem to like loud noises much but that could be part of the effects of what Hojo did to him. It is possible that Hojo could have his hands on him now." said Sephiroth.

Rufus Shin-ra nodded quietly. "Okay, but Hojo isn't here. He went on a trip three days ago once again. I wonder..." He thought for a moment. "Tseng, I want you to get all of the data logs of Hojo's leave for these trips. It's a possibility that he could have been going to where he holds River and experiments on him. See if you can find out where he went if at all possible." he said.

"Yes sir." Tseng said and went to leave with the other two Turks behind him.

"Hojo's gone? Then he does have River. Well, he could." said Zack.

"Lets see what Tseng comes up with and we'll go from there." Lazard said.

"I want something done about my father too. I'm sure he is in on this too. He is away right now though, and I'm not sure where he is. He could be with Hojo." Rufus added.

The other men in the room nodded and went to their offices until they were called back to see Rufus.


A gentle hand touched River's face that morning and he opened his eyes to meet blood red ones. "Vincent?" he whispered.

"Hello, Little One." the raven haired ex-Turk said. He pulled his hand back and then picked up the glass of water from the floor, handing it to River.

River sat up. He hurt so bad. He was thirsty too and drank the water. "Thanks." he said with a soft smile.

Vincent smiled back and sat beside the injured boy.

River crawled over to him and rested his head in his lap.

Vincent quietly asked what had happened and River complied to tell him. He then proceeded to tell Vincent about the Soldiers.

Vincent listened quietly. When the boy was finished he turned to him and said, "It seems like they have grown to care about you in such a short time. Who couldn't like you though, you're too gentle and sweet to be disliked by everyone except Hojo and President Shin-ra and their men."

"They said they would protect me. I... I wonder if... they'll try to find me and you too. I wouldn't leave without you." River whispered. "Not again."

Vincent ran a hand through the boy's long red hair, trying to untangle it. He gave up a minute later and just held River as they rested.

An hour later the rough hands of Loz grabbed River and dragged him back to the labs.

Screaming then ensued as Hojo continued his work.

The four beasts inside Vincent and the man himself growled as they were all helpless to help the tortured child.


Rufus, Lazard, Reno and Rude, including Elena and Cissnei and the four Soldiers listened as Tseng read from the time log he had put together.

When the head Turk was done Sephiroth said, "They all coincide with each other."

Tseng nodded. "Yes, they do. He has gone further than Rocket Town from what I have gathered. He stops for a long amount of time somewhere between North Corel and Rocket Town." he said.

"The only place between those two is Nibelhiem but it is nearly impossible to pass through the Nibel Mountains without a helicopter. There are dragons and rabid wolves in the forest." said Sephiroth.

"I know, but Hojo is crazy enough to do it. Definitely if he has a Cetra in his hands." Rufus said.

"The Shin-ra Mansion and surely there are labs underneath, have been abandoned for years. If Hojo is using them then no one would have suspected him. The town has been abandoned for ten years now." Elena added.

"Then what are we waiting for here?" Zack asked. "We need to go find River!"

"Zack, slow down. We need to be careful." Angeal said. "Hojo is surely to have the place under surveillance just in case someone comes to the mansion. If they see us coming we might never see River again or we might just get him killed."

Zack looked away and nodded.

"We'll take a chopper as far as we can without being detected. We'll hike the rest in two groups to surround the mansion." Sephiroth said as his commanding mind got to work. "We'll go in and take everyone out."

"Yes, Sir!" came several shouts.

"You'll leave tomorrow boys." Rufus said. "It's late and you need your rest and strength for the next few days."

They all nodded and left to their rooms, each hoping in the next few days they would find River.


River dodged the Shadow Creature's attack. He hit the floor and spun around, panting.

The creature growled and lunged at him again. River ran toward it full force and slashed it until it fell dead to the ground and vanished.

He looked up at the observation deck where Hojo was.

Soon the sword in his hand was taken away and he was put back in his cell with Vincent.

Once the guards left River collapsed into a sobbing mess. Vincent was at his side in an instant.

The first class clothes he wore was burned and filled with acid caused holes and also poison.

River's body shook in pain. They always left him like that. They would never let him wash it off. They just waited for his body to work through it and heal.

Vincent pulled the boy close and held him. This was the least he could do to help the child.

As Vincent held River he said, "Please let someone find us and get him out of this. He won't last much longer."