So in FF7, Wutai is like their Japan, so I thought to incorporate a little Japanese grammar too. Sanis a suffix added to the end of someone's name to address them in a polite way, kun is added to show affection (mostly spoken by women to men), chan is added for girls address their girl friends, and samais used to be very respectful. Baka means idiot. Enjoy!
Angeal Hewley propped his Buster Sword against the back of his chair, and proceeded to sit down for the first time in days. He was looking forward to it. For the past days, he'd been on the front lines of numerous riots and surprise attacks by the Wutai forces. Only just this morning had they driven them off long enough to set up and secure a campsite.
No sooner had he crossed his arms and sighed, when the tarp door was thrown open, and a certain exuberant SOLDIER bounded inside like an excited puppy.
"An-geal!" The 1st Class SOLDIER closed his eyes and focused on the relaxing black void behind his eyelids. "Angeal! Can you believe it- whoa! Nice place you got in here. You know, us 2nds and 3rds only get little tents- with sleeping bags! I mean, you've got a bed! And a table!" The 2nd Class SOLDIER crossed his arms, examining the spacious tent with a disapproving stare. "You guys are spoiled-"
"Zack!" Angeal snapped. His eyes were still closed, but the relaxing atmosphere he'd been searching for was slashed with red. He sighed wearily. He couldn't even think of any honor-references. "What are you doing here?"
"Okay, well, oh- first, I'm supposed to tell you that the camp is secure. Okay, anyways, did you see what I did back there?" Angeal shook his head, uninterested. "How could you not! So, I was surrounded by a bunch of these ninjas, and you know what I did?"
"No."
"I used QUAKE! And you know what they did? They all jumped into the air, and I jumped after them, and caught them off guard! One of them got away though, some dude with a ponytail like Tseng. Hey…" Zack narrowed his eyes accusingly. "You don't have the Turks testing my skills or anything, do you? Because if you do, I just took out, like, a whole unit of them."
"Zack?"
"Yeah?"
"Get out."
"Hey! Don't be so cold-" Angeal's hand started towards his Buster Sword, his fingers stretching blindly for the massive handle. "Whoa! Fine, jeez, I'll leave you to be a brooding old man-"
"Out!" Zack did his best to slam the tarp door, but all he got was a quiet 'swoosh'. Angeal sunk back into his chair with an aggravated groan.
"What was I thinking…suggesting him for 1st…" His cell phone gave an informative 'beep'. While massaging his temple with one hand, he slid his hand into his pocket and took out the phone. He knew better then to ignore messages right now. The Turks were constantly updating them with new-
His bright eyes widened curiously as he read the address on the screen.
Hail Darvey
She hardly ever texted him nowadays. The two had seemed to distance themselves from each other after Genesis left, so he was quick to read it.
'Fort Tamblin'
-Hail Darvey
'Odd.' Angeal thought, quickly replaced by, 'So she did end up sneaking off to Wutai! Wonder what Sephiroth will think about that collection of articles about him under her bed…'
But one thing. No one had been sent to Fort Tamblin yet. That was the Wutai's stronghold. Someone with Hail's level of experience would not be the first to be sent there. And he knew for a fact that Sephiroth was in this camp with him. Of the few other 1sts, none were qualified enough to lead an offensive in Fort Tamblin. And he knew that Hail wasn't stupid enough, or motivated, to launch an attack herself.
A restrained groan came from outside the tent, and the flap parted as Sephiroth ducked inside.
"Have I mentioned to you before how much I dislike the level of humidity in Wutai?" He muttered, before seating himself on the edge of one of the two cots in the tent. He stripped off his gloves and massaged his fingers through his bangs, scattering sweat.
"Maybe once or twice. Hey- no one was sent to Fort Tamblin yet, right?" Angeal asked.
"No one." Sephiroth's reply was instant- as if Angeal had asked a computer. "Our first priority is to secure this area. A few units have been stationed somewhat near Fort Tamblin, but they aren't part of the unit that will invade. In fact, the infiltration unit hasn't even been decided yet." Angeal clapped his phone shut.
"Well, Hail just texted me that that's where she is." Sephiroth frowned.
"Hail. I remember her from before. The girl, with blue hair."
"Yeah, and by the way, she's been 'newspaper-stalking' you for a while now."
"Has she? I was given a roster of all those sent to scout near the Fort. I'll check to see if she was stationed there." Sephiroth walked past him towards the back of the tent, and Angeal panned through his texts again.
'Hail.' He nervously thought. 'Just don't do anything reckless.'
Leading with my shoulder, I crashed through the sliding paper doors with ease. Too much ease. I hadn't been expecting them to give-way so easily, and I followed them to the floor in a pile of sticks and paper. I hissed in pain, and picked myself up just as a pair of women turned the corner behind me, crying out in protest.
I leapt to my feet, stumbling on my hands and toes before I finally stood upright. This damn dress, robe thing kept on tripping me! I put a hand to my face as I ran. And now I was dizzy from falling so much.
I veered down another hallway when I saw another Wutanise woman bar the path before me, my mako-vision spotting each new hallway quickly enough for me to react. Through another pair of doors, and cold night air hit my flushed skin. I ran onto a deck of some kind, connected to the house, and elevated off the ground by support beams. I hastily pulled my bangs behind my ears and looked around the village of Fort Tamblin.
There was no obvious exit, no giant doors or moat. Just a pond and a few pink-flowered trees, and more padoga-like structures in the distance. Nothing like I'd anticipated. No signs of warfare at all.
A figure stepped into my line of vision, quick as the wind. And just like the wind, a flurry of pink flower petals and leaves followed in his wake. The gust carried them past my face in a burst of cold air. I stared him down, and him me.
He was obviously a ninja, the way his face was hidden by bands of black cloth. He relaxed from his tense stance when he saw me, his almond eyes deceptive and calculating. I didn't wait for him to react. I leapt over the deck's railing, and my legs tangled once more in the skirt of the kimono. I teetered on the edge for only a moment, slowly dropping back onto the deck. Strong arms clapped around me before I'd even landed.
I violently protested against the grip, and his reaction was just as explosive. He'd pinned my arms against my sides, simultaneously closing the distance between us to hold me in place. The mutual force jarred our bodies, the movement making me nauseous and even more furious. I brought the heel of my foot down as hard as I could onto his thin shoe, and he yelled something that sounded like, 'kisaaw!'. Suddenly, the wooden railing creaked against my back, and folded against the pressure.
The two of us tripped, and went sprawling off the deck, and right into the fish pond. It was hardly a foot deep where we landed. But the splash we made was enough to soak the both of us. My head broke the surface with a gasp, and my fist went straight into the young man's face. Something snapped, and he flinched away. His hand flew to his nose, his brown eyes wide and indignant. Exhausted, though satisfied, my arm dropped into the water beside me, and the rest of my body followed. The water closed over my face, burning cold against my feverish skin.
It felt good, if only for a moment. Then i realized that I couldn't lift my head a few inches to gasp for air, even though I was drowning. The water had become somewhat still, and I squinted my eyes open. The ninja was dripping blood into the water, clutching his face and staring at me with angry, yet concerned eyes. It was as if he was asking me, 'Are you just going to stay there?'
The water rippled as his hand dunked in and cupped my neck, and tilted my head to the surface.
A series of running footsteps filled the quiet air, but my sputtering coughs were the loudest sound.
"Kaito-san! You caught her?" The ninja lowered his hand from his face and nodded.
"Yeah. Are you sure she's still sick though? I mean, she may not look too good, but-" An old Wutanise woman leaned over the railing.
"She should be resting!" She insisted. "Though, a cool dip in the pond may have done her some good." The two of us frowned. "Kaito-kun, bring he back up here and take her inside." Kaito groaned and I tried to get a good kick in on him while he was distracted.
"Did no one see her punch me?" A few laughs scattered the crowd.
"Getting beaten up by a woman, Kaito-san?"
"Shut up over there! I told you she was no hostage!" His response, which came as no surprise to me, only drew more laughter from the on looking ninjas. I sure was a hostage now. "Or why don't you come down here and help?" He called.
"Nah, she's all yours." The ninja, Kaito, slowly leaned over me, and heaved me out of the water.
"Resting?" I murmured in disbelief, jerking weakly away from his arms. He readjusted his grip, more firmly. "Why? Weren't you…" He kept brought his hand up for a moment, drawing me extremely close into his chest, and tugged the mask down from his chin. His nose had a trail of blood dripping onto his lips, smeared from the mask.
"You can just be quiet." He muttered. "You need to go back to sleep so I don't have to chase you around again, or get punched. And don't even think about trying to drown yourself again, baka."
"I wasn't!" I angrily protested. "And you…you were-"
"What?" He snapped.
"Torturing me!" I snapped back. I could vaguely remember someone driving needles into my chest. Weather I felt pain or not eluded me… "That's why i-" I sighed, relaxing my stomach muscles and instantly felt relief. I was sore.
I opened my eyes and saw Kaito look away from me.
"Torturing you? No. Though I wouldn't mind." He glanced back down at me, my eyes fixed on him to continue. "There was a bullet in your stomach, and we had to get it out. Maybe that's what you felt."
"But-" I clamped my mouth shut. They were…helping me? It made no sense.
"Yuffie-chan already told us how ShinRa was holding you hostage, so-" He clamped his mouth shut and set his jaws in a frown.
"What?" I demanded. He ignored me, and stepped over the remains of the paper doors I'd crashed through and into the room where I had woken up in. A floor covered in traditional tatami mats, with a white futon bed in the center- the blankets kicked across the room from my hasty departure. The elderly Wutanise woman was already inside, remaking the bed. She was sitting with her legs folded under herself in a position that look horribly uncomfortable. Kaito slowly lowered me onto the sheets, then roughly dropped me the last few inches.
I flinched, and the woman snapped him an angry glare.
"You will never find a wife the way you treat women!" She hissed. I was shocked that it was the first thing she said. A wife? Seriously? Kaito thought similarly, and grimaced.
"Oba-sama, leave it alone." Kaito protested, but the woman was firm.
"Kaito-san, I just mean that you must not withdraw like this." The woman obviously hesitated, before continuing. "…Your mother-"
"Stop saying it, I know!" He suddenly yelled. His face was tight with emotion that I couldn't distinguish between anger or pain. Breathing heavily, he quieted himself, and hurried to leave. I watched him go with a curious stare.
"Don't mind him." The woman's raspy voice broke me out of my trance. She offered me a dry robe, as the one I wore was soaking. It was pink, with flowers on it. Pretty enough to look at, though it lost all of its appeal when I thought of wearing it. "His mother was lost recently in the War. They were close and it has been difficult for him." I nodded absentmindedly, staring at the woman. She stared back, expectantly, no intention of turning her back on me while I changed. Definantly different cultures.
So I turned away myself, quickly shrugging off my damp robe and slipping on the fresh one. I passed my hand over my stomach, and over the fine line of stitches beside my navel. They had removed LeRoy's bullet. And the stitching was so well done it that I doubted it would leave a scar.
"You have quite the scars." She murmured, reading right into my thoughts. I tugged the robe's sash tight, my eyes daring to the side, though I couldn't see her behind me. "Your shoulder is raw still." I slowly faced her again. "Tell me, how did you acquire such injuries?" The woman was kind, but smart. She wanted my excuse to match what she had already been told.
An alibi. I needed to think of it now. But the moments of hesitation that it took could be interpreted differently, but unlikely in my favor.
…Damn.
"Oba-chan!" A young girl sprung into the room. The old woman covered her hand with her face, instantly reminding me of Zack and Angeal. I missed them already. You always missed people more when you didn't know how long you would be away from them.
"What is it, Yuffie-chan?" The woman demanded.
"Kaito-kun just passed me and his nose was all bloody and- oooh!" The girl's eyes fixed on me, and I felt her eyes bearing into me.
"What, Yuffie?" Oba, as I assumed her name was without all of the strange suffixes, wearily asked.
"Our guest is awake!" She bounded over to me, jumping very close to examine my face, then lower... "Hmm. Oba-chan, you'll have to get her a smaller sized kimono. The front is waaaay too loose." I gasped, and my hands flew to the front of my kimono.
"Hey! Stop staring at me like that!" I protested. The girl only laughed harder. Why was everyone commenting on that! It was one thing for Genesis, but now some random girl too?
"Whatever. You can call me Yuffie Kisuragi- the greatest ninja of all-ow! Oba-baka-chan!" Oba had readily smacked the girl over the head, and I felt no pity for her.
"Yuffie, be more polite to our guest. After all, she saved you."
"Wait, i…We've met?" I stuttered. The girl nodded.
"Don't tell me you don't remember! You saved me from that big ugly SOLDIER." Before I could respond, she spun on her heel to face the woman. "And then our bomb hit her! And Kaito-kun almost didn't believe me when I said she was a hostage!" The girl's violet-brown eyes met mine briefly, with a guilty grin. A strained expression. A…hint?
"Yuffie-chan, she just woke up. Please quiet down." The woman looked at me from over the girl's shoulder. "Please excuse her. Now isn't the time for questions. You should rest first." Of course she wanted me to rest now- to dismiss what Yuffie had just said. The girl had let me in on how I had apparently been a hostage.
"No!" I protested. "I mean, please, can you tell me what happened?" The woman scooted closer, shoving Yuffie out the way.
"If you insist. But first, can you tell me what you were doing in the middle of a battle?" I suppose there was no point in avoiding it any longer. Obviously I had not fighting. The girl stared at me from behind the woman, mouthing words with exaggerated opening and closings of her mouth.
"Please, excuse me for causing so much trouble for you…" I started, lowering my mako-blue eyes to the floor. It wouldn't help my case for her to be staring right at them while I lied, since they must have recognized what mako looked like by now. Thankfully, the gesture was similar to guilt or embarrassment, so it would work. "I come from a village near Gongaga, called Saltee. There was a fight there recently. ShinRa came to protect us from Wutai, but…in the end, they raided our village too. I…can't remember just what happened. But I woke up in their camp."
So that was it. ShinRa was evil and they had kidnapped me for their own sick reasons. Wow, I was creative. And best of all, I was claiming to be that pathetic to get kidnapped in the first place. It made me want to claw my stitches out.
But at least I had gotten the history correct. I knew for a fact that Saltee had been caught up in the War recently. I had been there, that part was no lie. And Oba knew it too.
"I'm so sorry." She murmured, lowering her eyes to the mats. "These last few weeks must have been terrible for you. But rest easy. Fort Tamblin in strong. Even the ShinRa have yet to dare and attack us here." Oh, that was great news for me.
"Thank you…but I shouldn't…" Shouldn't stay? My options were slim. Even if they would offer to take me somewhere else, I didn't have any place to go to, besides Midgar. It's not like I could say that.
"Don't worry over it. We have plenty of room here for you to stay. When this War is settled, it will be easy to return you to Saltee. After all, you rescued Yuffie-chan here." The girl, Yuffie, smiled at me, relieved.
"That's right! But, as the greatest ninja ever, I'll- oo-ow! Oba-baka!"
"Yuffie-chan, stop your yelling. Our guest here…My, we don't even know your name yet."
"Oh, Hail-" I bit down on my tongue, too late.
"Hail, what a pretty name. It would be Yuki in Wutanise. Snow." The idea was not interesting to me at all. She looked at Yuffie. "Dear, fetch some water for Hail-san."
"San?" I echoed in confusion. The woman smiled kindly at my ignorance.
When Yuffie left us alone, the woman quickly changed the topic.
"You were poisoned quite badly, I'm afraid. You reacted unusually. After giving you the antidote, you went to sleep. A very deep sleep. You were hardly breathing, gave us quite the scare." I knew instantly what she was describing.
Mako cells were awesome. Like little friendly parasites. When a foreign substance invaded the body, the mako cells attacked it, and killed it before it could grow. That's why SOLDIERs couldn't get sick.
But I'd been poisoned too badly for the mako cells to negate the effects in time. After I was given the antidote, and started to recover, my body shut itself down for as long as it took to eliminate the threat altogether. I was probably sleeping for a full day.
But it didn't make any sense for a normal human to respond like that. Did she see that?
"I guess I got lucky." I tried. She smiled.
Luck…There was no such thing.
Only talented BSing.
I looked out the high window, suppressing the overwhelming urge to yell.
Angeal…Please hurry.
It looked like I was stuck here to stay.
A dark figure moved outside, shifting from his position in the trees. It was the only viewpoint where he could see directly through the high window and into the room. He turned his back on the window, and leapt straight up, quietly but surly.